CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The title – “Pulp” – makes clear that the exhibition opening Tuesday (Sept. 13) at Figure One isn’t going to be a standard art show featuring bucolic oil paintings. Instead, “Pulp” will tackle the not-so-pretty topic of the environmental impact of mass production of paper, as well as society’s emotional connection to this omnipresent, practical product.
“This exhibition looks at re-tooling our relationship with paper,” said Jimmy Luu, a professor of art and design and coordinator of Figure One, the exhibition space of the University of Illinois School of Art and Design. “Paper used to be this utilitarian thing, used for everything. Now there are other ways to transmit information. So paper might become this thing that we have a different relationship with, that’s more special, perhaps.”
One part of the exhibition in the downtown Champaign space will show how paper is mass-produced and the impact that paper mills have on nature; another will show how small, regional paper mills work, and how paper can be used to create different kinds of art.
In another departure from the typical art-show routine, “Pulp” will not have a single opening-night reception. Instead, Figure One will host a series of five hands-on workshops in which the public is invited to come in and make paper. The workshops – which will take place Sept. 15, Sept. 22, Sept. 23, Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 – will be free, with materials and refreshments provided.
“We’re trying to see how it works to draw the same 100 to 200 people who would attend an opening shebang but give them a more intimate experience,” Luu said. “I think it would be kind of a fun date thing – learn something new, make some paper, have a snack.”
“Pulp” is curated by Sam Snyder, a senior majoring in photography and graphic design.
Figure One is at 116 N. Walnut St., Champaign. It is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 6 to 9 p.m. on Fridays.
